United National Party (UNP), Chairman, MP Vajira Abeywardena said that the collapsed economy was revived 48 hours before the birthday of PresidentRanil Wickremesinghe this year. He mentioned this when a community service programme organized by the United National Party Youth Corps was held at Sirikotha party headquarters on March 24 on behalf of the birthday of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
There was a dental clinic, Western and local medical treatment, a tree planting campaign, distribution of coconut plants, foreign employment counselling, legal counselling, a beauty programme, eye examination and giving spectacles and diabetes tests.
Concurrent with that programme, a blood donation campaign organized by Shanthini Kongahage, Chairperson of the Eksath Lak Vanitha Peramuna, was held at the main blood bank premises in Narahenpita on that day.
Abeywardena said the President’s birthday has become a very important day for the nation. That fact is also a matter of pride for the United National Party. When it collapsed economically, he was able to raise the economy again 48 hours before his birthday. When a nation is economically destroyed, that nation is finished. He has been able to become a great tree for such a nation and uplift the country as its leader, providing shade to the nation.
“I asked the young people who are here today if they are going abroad. The United National Party was the first to pave the way for foreign jobs. Before 1977, only children from elite families went overseas. Today, in Europe, Korea and Japan, there are hundreds of thousands of people working in foreign jobs abroad all over the world because of our party. Every family’s children got the opportunity to go abroad. We should go to foreign countries and bring the technology of those countries and return to this country. Those who have gone abroad also blame this party because of their ignorance.
“It is important to protect a leader like Ranil Wickremesinghe. The public suffer because they did not do so. Give him ten years to rebuild this country. It is certain that he will build a country where those who go abroad can come back and live.
“That is why I said to hand over the country only to Ranil, when there were 224 in Parliament,” he said.